Conveyer-roller feed



April 19,1927. I 1,625,653 M. o, HAEGER ICONVEYER ROLLER FEED I Filed Jan. 20, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g \AE; 1:35

M. O. HAEGER CONVEYER ROLLER FEED Filed Jan. 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 19-, 1927. 1,625,653

Jive :11:1

Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILTON o. HAEG-ER, or CHICAGO, I'L INoIs} ASSIGNOR T ABELL-I-IOWE oo., or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

CONVEYER-ROLLER FEED.

- Application filed January 1926.

This invention relates primarily to aroll feeding device for use in connection with c-onveyers of sand suckers or dredges to permit the sand or other material when dumped into a receiving hopper to drop onto rotatable adjustably mounted rolls which act to feed the material therebetween onto a trav elling belt or conveyor in a uniform manner, leaving suliicient space for freedom of motion between the material on the travelling beltand the material feed control rollers.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved roller feed device for sand suckers and dredges, said device being pro- 15 vided with feed rolls carried on adjustable supports to permit control of the quantity of material fed between said rolls upon a travelling belt.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a protecting device for the continuous belt of a sand sucker or dredge so that material to be delivered onto said belt is first delivered onto the protecting device for gradual delivery onto the belt, thereby re lieving the belt of excessive shocks and strains to which same would be subjected in case the material was delivered directly onto the belt.

It is an important object of this inven tion to provide a protective rollerfeed control mechanism between a travelling belt and a hopper, said control mechanism having the feed rollers thereof'mounted on adjustable supports to permit the rollers to be moved toward and away from one another to receive materialfrom the hopper and then gradually feed the material onto the beltto obviate the imparting of shocks and strains to the belt and to carry the weight of the material in the hopper.

Other and further important obj this invention will be apparent from the, disclosuresin the specification and the accompanying drawings. I

' This invention (-in' a preferred form) is more fullydescribed.

On the drawings: 1 v

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical longi- 99 tudinal sectionof a, portionofa a sand'sucker illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter or d ge sq rt d wi h an imp oved eller sets of Serial No. 82,420.

feed mechanism embodying the principles of this invention. 7

Figure 21s a fragmentary transverse view ofthe: device taken on line IIII of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detall section taken on line IIIIII of Figure 1'.

Figure at is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section taken on line IVIV of As shown on the drawings:

The referencev numeral 1 indicates the deck section of a sand sucker or dredge having mounted thereon a, transverse shaft 2 supported in suitable bearings and having mounted thereon a pulley or drum 3 around which an endless belt or conveyer 4 is trained. The endless belt or conv-eyer 4 is directed upwardly in an inclined plane and has the upper bight thereof train-ed around a pulley or roller supported on a shaft journal-led in suitable bearings on the feeder frame 5. Mounted on one projecting end of the belt driving shaft 2 is a sprocket 6 around which a driving chain 7 is engaged. The chain 7 is also engaged around a sprocket 8 (Figure 2) mounted upon a stub shaft 9 journalled in suitable bearings 10 on the feeder frame. Secured on the inner end of the transverse stub shaft 9 is a bevelled pinion 11. I

Mounted upon the inclined feeder frame 5 above the belt 4 is a housing or casing 12- open at the bottom and at the top. Securely mounted on the top of the open housing 12 is a material feedhopper 13 adapted to re 'ceive. the sand or other material which is to be. delivered onto, the endless conveyer or,

belt 45- A material control device is mounted in the housing l2below the hopper 18 to inter cept and support the material before it is:

deliveredto the endless belt or conveyer l. The roller feed mechanism comprises a drive shaft 14; mounted. in suitable bearings 15 on the frame, 5. Mounted, on the drive shaft 14 isi-a bevelled pinion 16 which isin mesh with the bevelled pgi nion, 11 and receives a drivetherefromv Also mounted on the drive shaft 14 it e e gea 17 h h isin me h wi h an upper gear 18 mount-ed on the lower end of a feed roller shaft 19. Also meshing with the lower drive gear 1'? is lower gear which is mounted on an idler shaft 20 supported in bearings 21 on the feeder frame. It will thus be seen that the idler shaft 20 and the gear thereon are adapted to be driven from the drive shaft 14. The gear on the idler shaft 20 is in mesh with an upper gear 2:2 mounted on the lower projecting end of a second teed roller shaft 28.

Secured upon each of the roller teed shafts 19 and 23 within the housing 12 are a pair of feed rollers 2i each of which is provided with a plurality of spaced longitudinal ribs or webs 25. The rollers 2-1 on each of the shafts 19 and 23 are separated at their adjacent ends by means ot a middle bearing .26, each of which is provided with an integral segment-shaped shoe The shoes 37 are adapted to slide on segmentshaped supports 28 rigidly bolted in position within the housing 12 to afford sullicient supports for the shoes of the bearings 26. The supports 28 are provided with slots 29 (Figure l) through which retaining bolts are adapted to engage. The bolts 30 are adapted to hold the middle bearings 26 secured in an adj usted position upon the stationary supports 28.

Rigidly secured by means of bolts or other suitable meansto the flange 31 on the lower open end of the housing 12 a closure disk or plate 32, each hall" of which has formed therein a curved or segment-shaped lower slot 33, a segment-shaped upper slot longer than the lower slot 323, and a large segmentshaped intermediate slot (Figure 3). Integrally formed on the lower margin of each halt of the closure plate is a bearing sleeve n6 for supporting the inner ends 01 the stub shafts 1i and iif) respectively. lntegrally formed on the closure plate 32 above the bearing sleeves 36 are two segmentshaped guide flanges 87. The lower end of each of the roller shafts 19 and 23 project through the lower open end of the housing 12 and through the re spective intermediate slots at of the closure plate 532 and as already described, have the gears 18 and 22 secured. on the outer projecting ends thereof. The lower end portions of the roller shafts l9 and are supported in bearing sleeves 88 which have integrally formed thereon supporting plates 39 which carry locl bolts it). The lock bolts 40 carried by the supporting plates 39 project through the respective slots 33 and 84 of the closure plate 32 thereby affording a means whereby the roller shalt supporting plates 39 may be moved toward or away from one another and rigidly secured in an adjusted or predetermined position with re spect to the closure plate 32 so that the rollers on the shafts 19 and 23 may be adjusted to vary the space between the rollers for the purpose ot controlling the feed of the material from the hopper 13 downwardly between the rotating rollers onto the travelling belt or conveyer at. The bearings 38 for the shafts 19 and 23 are permitted to move through the intern'iediate slots 35 of the end closure plate 32 when the material :teed rollers are adjusted with respect to one another.

Rigidly bolted to the llange all on the upper open end 01' the inclined housing 12 is an upper closure plate or disk which is constructed similar to the lower closure plate 32 and is also provided with groups or segmentshaped slots 325, 25st and 35 similar to the arrangement illustrated in Figure 3. The upper ends of the shafts 19 and 23 are supported in bearing sleeves l?) which project through the intermediate slots 35 ot the upper closure plate The upper hearing sleeves elil are provided with integral supporting plates or llai'igcs ll which carry bolts 4.5 which project through the closure plate slots 33 and ill ol' said closure plate to permit; the upper ends of the shafts 19 and to be locked. in a predetermined or adjusted position corresponding to the adjustment ot the lower ends oi said shafts. As illustrated in Figure 1, a protecting hood. or shield at; is provided within the housing 1' for protecting the intern'iediate bearings 26 of the shafts 19 and 23 from the material being deposited upon the rollers 2-1: from the hopper 13.

The operation is as follows:

When a sand sucker or dredge is in operation, the material, such as sand, is delivered by means of buckets or other suitable means into the upper open end of the hopper 13 and permitted to drop upon the rollers 2 1, the rollers being mounted in the housing 12 which forms the discharge end of the hopper and prevents the material from being (leposited direetly onto the travelling conveyor or belt 4, thereby relieving said belt or coir veyer oi' the SllOCh'S or strains to which it would ordinarily be subjected in case the feed rollers were not used.

The driving shaft 9 adapted tobe driven from any suitable source of power and causes rotation oi the chain 7 which in turn causes the drive to he transn'iitted to the shaft 2 and the pulley or drum 3 to cause the drive to be transmitted to the endless belt or conveyer 1, The driving shaft 9 also causes the drive to be transmitted through the meshing bevelled gears 11 and in to cause operation of the lower gear 17 and the gear on the idler shaft 20 so that the drive is thereby transmitted to the upper gears 13 and 22 mounted on the lower projecting ends of the roller shafts 19 and 28. It will thus be seen that the drive is transmitted to the shafts 19 and 23 to cause rotation ofthe rollers 24 inwardly toward one ill) ltlll another so that the material deposited from the hopper upon said rollers is. gradually and evenly fed downwardly by means of the roller ribs or webs between the rollers and onto the travelling belt 4 without having the full weight of the material in the hopper brought to bear upon said belt. The quantity of material delivered by the rollers from the hopper 13 onto the belt may be con trolled by adjusting the shafts l9 and 23 with respect to one another. Thisisdone by releasing there-raining bolts thereby permitting the supporting plates 39 and 44 to be slidably adjusted on the respective end closure plates 32. and 42 after which the retaining bolts are again. tightened to hold the shafts and respective rollers in their adjusted position. It will thus be seen. that the quantity of material from the hopper 13 is adapted to be controlled and when deposited upon the rotating rollers Q-Ct is delivered downwardly between said rollers upon the travelling belt l which carries the material upwardly out of the sand sucker or dredge 1 to be delivered into suitable containers or conveyers which will deliver the material to the points desired.

I am aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a material receivinghopper, of a conveyer belt mounted therebelow, parallel roller feed mechanisms positioned between said hopper and belt, and slidable bearings for the roller feed mechanisms adapted to permit the roller feed mechanisms to be adjusted radially with respect to one another to control the flow of the material from said hopper onto said belt.

2. The combination with a material feed hopper, of a conveyer belt mounted therebelow, a pair of parallel feed roller mechanisms mounted between said hopper and said belt, means for driving the belt and said feed roller mechanisms, and pivoted supports for said feed roller mechanisms adapted to permit said parallel feed roller mechanisms to be adjusted through an arc to vary the distance therebetween to control the flow of the material from said hopper onto said belt.

3. A conveyer roller feed device comprising a material feed hopper, a belt mounted therebelow, means for driving said belt, material feed rollers between said hopper and said belt, arc shaped supports for said rollers. and means adapted to permit the rollers to be adjusted transversely with respect to one another on said supports to permit the rollers to receive the material from said hopper and gradually deliver the same to, said belt to, relieve said= belt of undue stresses and strains. i

4 A conveyer roller feed device compris ing a hopper, a conveyer mounted therebelow, means for driving said conveyer, rotatable feed means positioned between said conveyer and hopper, and slidable bearings for the feed means. to, permit adjustment thereof to control the flow of the material from said hopper onto said conveyer.

5. A conveyer roller feed device comprising a hopper, an endless conveyer mounted therebelow, feed rollers adjustably mounted with respect to one another below said hopper to govern the flow of material from said hopper onto said belt, and driving means connected with said endless conveyer and with said feed rollers to drive the same.

6. A conveyer roller feed device comprising a frame, a housing supported on said frame, a hopper mounted: on said housing, a conveyer mounted on said frame below said housing, material feed rollers mounted in said housing between said hopper and conveyer, adjustable supports for said feed rollers adapted to permit said rollers to be moved toward or away from one another to vary the space therebetween, and driving mechanisms connected with said feed rollers and with said conveyer to operate the same to cause material from said hopper to be gradually fed by said feed rollers onto said conveyer and further adapted to relieve the conveyer of the weight of the material in said hopper.

7. A conveyer roller feed device comprising a frame, an endless conveyer mounted thereon, a housing mounted on said frame above said conveyer, pivotally mounted supports on said housing, feed rollers supported on said pivotally mounted supports, means for holdingsaid pivotally mounted supports in adjusted position, gear mechanisms for operating said feed rollers, driving means connected to operate said gear mechanisms and said conveyer, and means connected with said housing for delivering a material onto said feed rollers for gradual delivery onto said conveyer.

8. A conveyer roller feed device comprising a frame, an endless conveyer supported thereon, a housing mounted on said frame above said conveyer, a hopper connected with said housing for delivering material thereto, a plurality of parallel roller mechanisms mounted within said housing for supporting the material within said hopper prior to delivery onto said conveyer, slotted closure plates for the ends of said housing, adjustable supports on said closure plates for supporting said roller mechanisms, means for locking said adjustable supports in a predetermined position on said closure plates to hold the roller mechanisms in adjusted spaced relation, and driving means on said frame connected to operate said roller mechanisms and said conveyer to cause said roller mechanisms to deliver material ifrom said hopper onto said conveyer.

9. A eonveyer roller feed device comprising a frame, an endless belt mounted there on, a housing on said frame above said belt, a hopper on said housing for delivering a material thereto, feed rollers in said housing, adjustable bearing supports for said feed rollers, means for locking said bearing supports in adjusted positions, and driving mechanisms connected with said feed rollers and with said belt to operate the same to cause the material from said hopper to be delivered in predetermined quantities on said belt.

10. The combination with a material feed belt, of a plurality of parallelly disposed feed rollers mounted longitudinally above said belt, adjustable supports for said feed rollers adapted to permit said feed rollers to be moved toward or away from one another to vary the space therebetween to control the quantity of material delivered onto said belt, means for driving said feed rollers and said belt, and means -lior holding said adjustable supports in a predetermined position of adjustment.

11. The combination with a material feed belt, of segment shaped supports mounted thereabove, bearings slidably adjustable on said supports, means for holding said bearings in a set position of adjustment on said supports, and material feed rollers sup ported in said bearings for governing the delivery of material onto said belt.

12. The combination with a material Lt'eed belt, ot' a plurality of roller feed devices, and slidable bearings therefor adjustable through curved paths toward and away from one another to permit the feed devices to control the delivery of material onto said belt.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

MILTON O. HAEGER. 

